


play ball

by gann0n



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, I can’t stop myself from making stupid baseball jokes be prepared, and now it’s like a mystery, and with even more dumb baseball jokes, gay disaster Violet is the best Violet, its still gay though, this was supposed to be gay baseball, we’re back, wingman Louis saves the day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2019-12-30 12:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18315068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gann0n/pseuds/gann0n
Summary: Violet doesn’t like baseball. But baseball players? Whole different ball game.





	1. Chapter 1

Violet did not want to go to a baseball game. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And she certainly did not want to pitch in during her own free time to help. The point was, she wanted nothing to do with any sports of any kind. Certainly not while all the other areas of the school were struggling to stay afloat. But as usual, fucking Louis got her wrapped up in something, the two of them got busted, and now she was stuck “volunteering” and hanging up posters advertising the baseball game at the end of the week, with some old teacher who was supposed to be watching them. Ugh. 

“It’s not all bad.” Louis said, from his spot in the hallway. “Not for you, at least.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Violet demanded, cursing as she dropped a thumbtack. Much to her chagrin, she wasn’t tall enough to get the posters to where the school wanted them without the assistance of a stepladder, but the one they provided was a very old stepladder. Violet didn’t know how it wasn’t a health hazard and elected to use a slightly more stable chair instead. 

Louis laughed. “You don’t do anything, Vi. Think about it. What would you be doing if we weren’t here?”

“You mean if we hadn’t been dumb enough to get caught?” Violet corrected. “I don’t know. Probably watching TV.” 

“But instead we’re here.” Louis said, spreading his arms to emphasize his point, but all Violet could see were how many more posters they had to hang up, all for different clubs and announcements. “Ericson is at our mercy.”

“Really? Because it feels like it’s the other way around.” Violet said. “Come on. I don’t like being in a school all day. It makes me restless.” 

“We wouldn’t want restless Violet, would we?” Louis laughed, but mercifully he stopped talking and got back to work. Violet hated how it was almost relaxing, albeit monotonous, hated how time went by faster than she thought and how she was basically on autopilot because they’d been doing this for so long, until one of the posters slipped. 

It was promoting a baseball game later in the week, and while Violet did not care about baseball, this particular poster happened to have a team photo and she could not stop her eyes from focusing on one girl lined up in the front. She had hair tucked neatly into a baseball cap and these absolutely gorgeous eyes flecked with gold. Violet scanned the rest of the poster for anything—a name, a number—but there was nothing. 

“Louis!” She called, and he looked up. 

“Yeah?” He called back, clearly not paying attention as he looked at his phone. 

Violet rolled her eyes. “When the fuck did we get a baseball team?” 

Louis took his both his headphones out. “Are you serious? Like last year!”

“Really?”

“This is what I’m talking about. You didn’t even know we have a baseball team. You watch too much TV, and don’t spend enough time kicking it after school with your buddies.” Louis said. 

Violet scoffed. “Are they any good?”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “You can go see for yourself. They practice after school. Since when do you give a fuck about baseball?”

Violet felt her face flush and scrambled to respond before Louis could notice. “I don’t.” 

But Louis wasn’t dumb. Or maybe Violet was that painfully transparent when it came to women, because he glanced down at the poster in her hand and back up at her blushing face, and a dangerous smile appeared. 

“Is this about a girl?” He said, with some delight. “Violet! I want to say I’m surprised, but I’m not. Which one? More than one? Come on, let me see!” He said, trying to reach for the poster. Violet pulled away, but not fast enough and Louis grabbed it with ease. Triumphant, he smoothed out the creases in the poster from their brief tussle and began to examine it. Violet could only watch, arms crossed, face red.

“Hmm.” Louis mused out loud. “I don’t know you to have a type. Could be anyone here.”

“My type is women, Louis.” She said. 

“Yeah, and that doesn’t exactly narrow it down, does it?” He continued to look over the poster until Violet had enough. 

“Look, if you stop slacking and help me hang up the banner so we can leave, I’ll tell you.” She said, and breathed a sigh of relief when Louis looked up and nodded. 

“I’m holding you to that.” He warned, pointing a finger. 

“When have I ever lied to you, Louis?” She asked, and walked off before he could respond.

The task of hanging the banner was not one Violet was looking forward too, mainly because it put them in actual danger. Their instructions were to hang it at the highest point, which was high enough that a fall from a ladder would hurt. Probably wouldn’t break anything, but it would sting like a bitch. 

She looked in one of the nearby classrooms for that teacher who was supposed to be watching them. Nowhere in sight.

“You scared?” Louis teased, but Violet could hardly hear him over the terrible screech of the ladder against the floor as he brought it over. 

“Jesus.” Violet said, eyeballing the rusty death trap. “It’s almost like they want a lawsuit.”

“Don’t you know all this old school stuff was built tough?” Louis wheezed, clearly winded. “Little rust never killed anyone. Could you—could you grab the other one? A bit tired.”

Violet went to grab the other ladder, taking the sensible route of folding it and easily carrying it to Louis, who had the decency to look sheepish. 

“Well, I never said I was the smart one. Just the talented one. And good looking. And humble. And—“

“Louis, I am begging you to shut up.” Violet said. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

All of Violet’s fears melted away and turned into anger when she realized that even standing up straight she was too short to reach the other end of the banner.

“Son of a bitch.” She swore, as Louis tried (and failed) not to laugh at her misfortune. “Goddammit. It’s not funny, Louis.”

“It’s a little funny.” He said, still laughing. “Hey, at least we figured out why you’re so angry all the time.”

“I swear to god—“ she said, and as she stood to climb down the ladder rocked unsteadily. “Shit.” She tried to find a grip on something, but there was only the ladder and the wall. Then she tried in vain to stop the rocking, and that failed as it tipped over. 

Violet was no stranger to pain. Not really. That being said, she had no idea what colliding with a floor felt like. She closed her eyes braced for what she was sure would be a sickening thud against hard floor, but instead heard a soft grunt as she collided with something that was definitely not a floor.

“Nice catch!” She heard Louis yell. 

Catch? Was she—

“You alright?” A voice asked, and she opened her eyes to see the same specks of gold from the poster staring right back at her. With the realization that she was a. speaking to this girl and b. literally in her arms, Violet went absolutely red and froze. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Violet tried to reassure her. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” She raised an eyebrow. “You’re all red.”

“Never been better!” Violet squeaked, as she realized the girl still hadn’t put her down. She wasn’t complaining, not really, but it was difficult to think while in the… embrace of a pretty girl and she did not want to embarrass herself further. The last thing she needed was to be caught staring at her arms. 

“Alright.” She said, gently helping Violet to stand. “I’m Clementine.”

Violet’s mouth went dry as their eyes met again. 

“Hello, Clementine. I’m Violet. Nice to meet you.” Louis said, in a poor imitation of Violet’s voice. God, was he going to tease her about this later. 

“Uh, yeah. What he said.” 

“Didn’t think anyone who wasn’t on the team would be here this late.” Clementine said. “We’re lucky I forgot my water bottle in the building, otherwise you might have had a nasty fall.”

“Oh, you’re on the team?” Violet said, trying to be nonchalant. Clementine smirked, and Violet knew her attempt failed. 

“Sure am. One good thing to come out of baseball, I guess. Makes me better at catching girls who can’t keep their balance—“

“That ladder is like 90 years old.” Violet defended, but she heard the smile in Clementine’s voice and figured if anyone got to tease her, it was the girl who caught her. “I’m surprised it didn’t break when I fell.”

“Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t that ladder then? Relax.” Clementine added quickly. “I’m just messing with you. Shit. Is that the time? I’ve got to go. You should come to the game Friday, though. I’d love to see you again.”

“She’ll be there.” Louis said, as Violet struggled to find air. 

Clementine grinned—a wide, toothy one—. “Great. See you there!”

She took off in a light jog and Violet watched her leave as tried to process what the hell just happened. She stood there, until she heard Louis climb down from his ladder. 

“Louis—“

“You’re welcome for all that by the way. I knew you were gay but you didn’t function once after she touched you.”

“I know.”

“Like, you didn’t look like you spoke English for half of that.”

“I know.” Violet moaned miserably, her hands covering her face. “God. Maybe I’ll do better whenever I see her again.”

“Whenever?” Louis repeated. “You’re going to see her at the game on Friday. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”

“I can’t go to the game. Not so soon after staring at her like an idiot and not speaking—“

“She wants you to be there, Violet. You should go. I know if a girl caught me, then flirted with me and invited me to watch her play, I’d go.”

“She did not flirt with me.” Violet said. “I’m sure she was just being nice.” Why would Clementine be flirting with her? It didn’t make any sense.

“You are beyond hopeless.”


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, maybe Violet did want to go to a baseball game. Just a little, though. Nothing major. It wasn’t like she was stressing about it all week or anything. 

Louis did not help matters, as he’d taken it upon himself to be Violet’s “personal love guru”, and thought it would be a good idea to present her with a list of baseball terms in the library the day before the game. When she looked at him, confused, he smiled and said, “You need to at least know the basics of baseball. How else are you going to impress Clementine? Or try to be subtle if someone else asks why you’re at a baseball game?”

“Shut up.” Violet said. “I think the time to impress her has long since passed.”

“Won’t know until you try, Violet. Come on.” 

“Fine.” She grumbled. “But only because I have nothing else to do.”

“Justify it however you want.” Louis said. “I have a bit of a proposition, anyway.”

Violet was suspicious. “Gonna need you to elaborate, Louis. This is you we’re talking about.”

“You wound me, Violet. You really do.” Louis said, but he was wearing that signature grin. “I may have used my excellent powers of deduction to learn some information about your lady savior. It was all publically available, before you ask. “

“This is stupid.” Violet said.

“You also think baseball is stupid. But you’re going to the game tomorrow, aren’t you?” Louis asked, and Violet knew he had a point. “Good. Alright, Violet. What does RBI stand for?”

They went back and forth for a while, until Violet’s brain felt like it was fried from the amount of information that had been force fed into it. She called it quits after about an hour, and got up to toss Louis’ stupid paper into the garbage, but she was so bleary eyed she walked straight into someone else. 

“Hey,” a familiar voice laughed. “I guess you’re pretty accident prone, huh?”

“Clementine.” Violet recognized. Okay, play it cool. “What are you doing here?”

“What, jocks can’t come to the library too?” Clementine teased. “I’m looking for Brody. Have you seen her?”

Violet wondered how Brody knew Clementine, and then wondered how Clementine knew that she and Brody knew each other. It must have showed, because Clementine added, 

“I’ve been here for a few months, and you know how friendly Brody is.” Clementine said. ”She told me you two used to be really close friends.”

“Yeah.” Violet said, her mood soured at the mention of her and Brody’s past friendship. “Used to.”

There was a pause of awkward silence, and in an attempt to diffuse it, Clementine glanced at the paper in Violet’s hand—or rather, the paper that was now on the floor. “Hey, what’s that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing—“ Violet tried, but that only drew more attention to it. Clementine looked at her, and Violet’s blush deepened.

“That blush means it’s not nothing.” Clementine noted. “I won’t read it if it really bothers you, though.”

“It’s just baseball stuff.” Violet admitted, rubbing her arm. 

Clementine raised an eyebrow. “And why would that be embarrassing?”

Violet took a deep breath. She could feel Louis’ eyes on her as she readied herself to talk. 

“Personally,” Clementine continued, before Violet had the chance to say anything. “I think it’s adorable.”

“That’s—you—I am not adorable.” Violet got out, and she heard Louis snickering in the background.

Clementine laughed. “I respectfully disagree. You didn’t see your face after I caught you. It was the cutest thing I’d seen all week. Still is, as a matter of fact.”

Violet opened her mouth, ready to protest, when Louis cleared his throat with no attempt to be quiet and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “Violet stop talking”. So she did, well aware that a. Louis was better than her at these kinds of things and b. Clementine was probably trying to compliment her. She wasn’t used to compliments, but she bit her tongue and offered a smile. 

“So how are you finding learning about America’s pastime?” Clementine asked, taking a seat and Violet found herself sitting back down right next to her. She tried to ignore that they were so close together that their legs were touching. 

“I’m going to go get a soda.” Louis announced. “Vi, Clementine, either of you want anything? No? Good, because I only have a dollar.” He got up and left, leaving the two of them alone. Violet made a mental note to curse him out later.

“It’s learning.” Violet shrugged. “Never had much of a reason to care about baseball before.”

Clementine somehow managed to smile even wider at that. “I didn’t want to assume, but when Brody told me you’d once said “I would rather claw my own eyes out than watch a baseball game,” I was hoping I was the one that had swayed you to the dark side.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t Louis or Brody.” Violet said, and was all of a sudden glad Louis wasn’t there, because she knew he would make fun at that pathetic attempt at being witty. 

“That just means I have to put on a show tomorrow.” Clementine said. “I promise I’ll hit a home run just for you. Wouldn’t want to waste your time.”

“It’s enough that you even want me to be there.” Violet said, which was more true than she wanted to admit. People didn’t tend to invite her to places. “I’m sure I’ll have a good time just being there and seeing you.”

It was clear Clementine wasn’t expecting that answer, and for once she was the one unable to form a response. Violet saw Clem’s face flush and a hand go to the back of her neck and had to fight a smile of her own.

Okay, she thought. Maybe keeping up with Clem wasn’t that difficult. Just be honest and don’t make shit weird. 

“You can be very charming, did you know that?” Clementine said. 

“Me? Charming? I think you’ve got me confused with someone else.” Violet said. “We should be glad Louis isn’t here, though. He’d take credit for everything. Though most things are his idea,  
I’ll give him that. Including this paper.” Violet noted that the nearest vending machine was in sight, and Louis was nowhere to be found. She was going to kill him. 

“Mind if I see it?” Clementine asked. “I know you said it was just baseball terms, but I have to see this.” Violet handed her the now mostly crumpled paper, and Clementine’s eyebrows scrunched up in the cutest way before she threw her head back laughed so hard the librarian shushed her. Violet was curious as to what amusement Clementine managed to get from a boring list and got her answer when Clem turned around, tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. 

“I’m sorry,” Clementine said. “But literally the first thing on this page, in bold letters, is “Baseball 101 for Violet, The Most Useless Lesbian I Know. That’s followed by a winky face written underneath “second base”, and then what I assume is your handwriting which says “I’m gay and this is stupid”. Brody said you and Louis were quite a pair, but I had no idea.”

Violet tried not to let yet another mention of Brody get to her, and failed as Clementine turned around in her seat and said “Well, speak of the devil. Brody. Took you long enough. See you later—“

“Violet!” Brody greeted, in the same cheery fucking tone she always used. God, didn’t she get tired of sounding like that? Violet didn’t have to turn around to know the exact same grin that was always there would be plastered onto Brody’s face. 

“Hi, Brody.” Violet said, without turning around. She could feel the judgment in the silence, could already see the smile falling from Brody’s face. Neither of them said anything else, until Clementine coughed. 

“See you tomorrow!” She said. 

“Yeah. See you.” Violet said, and wondered where the hell Louis was.

 

————————————————————  
It was a mystery to Violet where the school got this much money from. To fund an entire baseball team—uniforms, coaches, equipment— was a ton of money. Not to mention the field. The last time Violet saw it, she was pretty sure it had still been a fire hazard, a gift from one of the many kids at Ericson who liked to play with fire. Now, Violet could look at the field and see the dollar signs burning. It was brand new, state of the art, and the only thing at Ericson that hadn’t been abandoned. 

She got to the game early, figuring she should plan for whatever shenanigans her friends would manage to get into. This was the first time all of them—Louis, Tenn, Aasim, Willy, Omar, Ruby, and even Brody—had hung out together like this in years. Violet didn’t think a baseball game warranted this much of a crowd, but she was only here because a pretty girl convinced her to be. As her group of friends approached, she knew coming early was the right call. They were all wide smiles Violet could see from a mile away, and that meant something was up. 

“Violet!” Louis said. “We’ve got a surprise for you.” 

“I don’t trust whatever it is.”

“That’s mean.” Louis pouted. “Isn’t that mean, Tenn?”

“It is kinda mean, Vi.” Tenn agreed. 

“Aw, not you too.” Violet sighed, but it was good to see Tenn, and to see him smiling. The last year had been rough on all their friends, but specifically her and Tenn. They’d dealt with the loss of his sisters in different ways—for one, Tenn still talked to Brody—but Violet was always worried about him. “Fine. What’s the surprise?”

“Your very own Ericson baseball cap!” Louis announced, as Willy produced said cap. At first Violet laughed along with them, but as she continued to examine the cap, it looked official. Too official. 

“Wait, did you—did you steal this?” Violet asked, and got no response. “Guys?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.” Louis said cheerfully. “Just know, no one’s gonna miss an old cap. Hey, I’ll give you twenty bucks if you get Clem to sign it after the game.”

“You said in the library that you only had a dollar.” Violet pointed out, as they headed toward their seats. The rest of the group lagged behind, some choosing to grab their food first. Violet glanced down at the field to see the players warming up, and made eye contact with Clementine, who stopped stretching to wave. Violet, against her better judgment, waved back. 

“I lied. Needed to see if you’d finally make a move on Clementine.” Louis said. “I saw her blush, so congrats are in order. I’ve taught you well.”

“Fuck off.” Violet said. “How about you make a move?”

“On Clementine? Well, if you insist—“

“No, idiot. On Aasim.” 

Louis glanced back to see if any of their friends were listening. Most of them looked to still be waiting on line for snacks. Verifying that no one was there, he sighed. 

“That’s different. He wants to be with Ruby.”

“You don’t know that.” Violet said.

“Don’t I? He told me that to my face, Vi.” Louis said. “Don’t get sad for me. I’ll get over it.”

“Maybe he said that to see how you’d react.” Violet tried. She gave Louis a lot of shit, but he was one of the few people on the planet who could always make her feel better, and she wanted to do the same for him. 

“Maybe he did.” Louis said. “But I can’t sit here and get caught up in maybes. That’s why I keep bothering you about Clementine. That’s not a maybe, dude. She’s interested in you. I know you’re interested in her.”

“She hardly knows anything about me.” Violet said. “I’m sure once she finds out what kind of person I am, she’ll walk away just like everyone else.” 

“If you really believed that, you wouldn’t be at this game right now.” Louis said.

“Believed what?” Tenn asked, as the rest of the group came crowding into the aisle. 

“That the other team has a chance!” Louis lied, easily, smoothly. Violet wondered if he even had to think about lying at this point, or if he was just so good at it now that his lies wrote themselves. She guessed it was the second one, since after years of being his friend it was still hard to tell when he was lying at when he wasn’t. She would bet there were times when he didn’t know himself. “You think Violet would leave her house if she thought we were gonna lose?”

Violet rolled her eyes. “You’re using the term “we” pretty liberally there. Last time I checked, you weren’t on the team.” 

“I could play baseball if I wanted.” Louis defended. “Do you see this athletic frame?”

 

Violet zoned out for most of the pre-game— except for when everyone started singing something that she didn’t recognize. Apparently Ericson had a fight song. Violet had no clue such a thing existed. Maybe she did need to get out more. But minus the song, she didn’t pay attention at all until she heard Clementine’s name being called by the announcer and then heard the crowd erupt into cheers. 

“...batting a .308 and leading the league in stolen bases last year…”

Violet looked at Louis. 

“Yes, a .308 is a good batting average. A great one, actually. It’s like you didn’t read my notes.” He said, shaking his head. “As for the stolen bases—“

Violet didn’t hear him as Clementine stepped up to the plate. It was one of those awful hot and humid nights, where sweat dripped from your forehead regardless of if you were active or not, but Clem didn’t looked bothered. Her eyes were set straight ahead as she got into her stance, her gaze never leaving the ball in the pitchers glove. Violet’s eyes followed Clem’s and she watched as the ball left the pitcher's glove and how it seemed to hang in the air for a second, before Clem swung and there was a crack as the bat made contact. 

Next to her, Louis said, “Oh, that’s way out of here. That’s gone!” as soon as the pitch was out of the pitchers hand. 

“You don’t know that—“ Violet started, but was silenced as the ball flew out of the stadium and Louis’ prediction rang true. The crowd exploded again, and Clem calmly rounded the bases. As she neared third, she looked up to where Violet was sitting and winked.

Oh, there was no way the entire student body hadn’t seen that, and there was no way to play it off. Violet swore she felt her heart stop right before the blood rushed to her face.

“Well,” Louis said. “I think we’ve found the one girl in this school less subtle than you.”

The rest of the game was a blur after that. Violet didn’t even know the score as the game ended, just that the Ericson team ran out onto the field in celebration and the crowd was roaring. Violet felt like she barely heard them above the sound of her own heart going haywire. For once, Violet made it through a baseball game without feeling like she was going to pass out from boredom and it was because she couldn’t stop thinking about that wink. It was for sure not subtle, but she couldn’t figure out the exact meaning. 

The wink didn’t escape her friends notice either, and as they all went to leave, Ruby brought it up. 

“I didn’t know you knew Clementine.” Ruby said. 

“I don’t think Violet thought she knew Clementine that well, either.” Louis said. “A wink is a very bold move. Might be exactly what our Violet needs.”

“Shut up.” Violet said, with no venom in her voice. “Let’s just go.”

“Whoa, whoa.” Louis said. “Slow your roll, Vi. Aren’t you forgetting something?” He gestured over to where Clementine was honest to god signing autographs. To be fair, most of the people asking were little kids, kids even younger than Tenn who must have had older siblings at the school, but Violet thought she spotted a few people who were way too old to be asking for autographs.

“No.” Violet groaned. “Louis, no.” 

“It’s twenty dollars.” Louis said. 

“That’s a lot of chicken nuggets.” Willy added.

“We’ll meet you in front. Give you some space.” Ruby said.

“I hate all of you.” Violet said, walking toward Clementine before she could think about how bad of an idea this was, ignoring the cheering from the group. 

Most of the kids were gone when Violet got there, and Clem’s eyes lit up a little when they saw her. Violet felt most of her nerves melt away as she approached with the hat in her hands. 

“I told you I’d hit one for you.” Clementine said. “Told the team, too.”

“Never doubted you.” Violet said.

“Smart move.” Clem smiled. “I know you said you were going to come, but it was still nice to see you here tonight.”

“Yeah, I, uh—It was nice to see you play. Speaking of, I’ve got this hat here and I can’t help but noticing you’ve got a pen in your hand…” Violet trailed off, hoping Clem would take mercy on her and fill in the blank. She did, thankfully.

“Alright,” Clem said. “To Violet. Any requests as to what the message should say? Actually, you know what? I’ve got it.” She scribbled something on the back of the hat, and handed it back to Violet. “Believe me, I’d love to chat more, but Coach always has to give a speech after game and I was almost late to the game, so I should really go. You should call me!” Clem said, jogging away. 

“I don’t have your number!” Violet said, and Clem turned back and winked for the second time that night. 

“Check the hat!” She said, and Violet glanced down to see the message scrawled on the hat was indeed a phone number. When she looked up again, Clementine was gone. 

“Huh.” Violet said out loud. “That was easier than expected.” She turned to look at her friends, not believing they’d left for a second, and expecting them to start making fun of her the second Clem was out of sight. But for once, they weren’t there.

She walked out to the very front, and between all the noise of the cars and the sheer amount of people, she couldn’t find any of her friends. How long had she been talking to Clem? It couldn’t have been more than five minutes. Maybe they’d gone to the bathroom, she decided, and looped back around to the bathroom. It was a bit quieter here, and she thought she heard Ruby’s voice.

“Tennessee? Where are you?” Ruby said, and it Violet heard the fear in her tone. Following her voice, Violet found Ruby in a far corner.

“Ruby, what the hell is going on? Where is everybody?” Violet asked. 

“Oh God.” Ruby said. “We all got split up in the crowd, because Willy wanted to get some cotton candy before the concession stand closed, and now we can’t find Tenn.”

“Easy, Ruby.” Violet said. “Tenn wanders off sometimes. We know this. Maybe something spooked him. He’s probably walking home right now.”

“You don’t understand.” Ruby said. “He said he saw someone, and then took off. Louis and Aasim followed him, but…”

“Saw someone?” Violet asked, confused. “Saw who?” There were only two people Violet could think of that would make Tenn act like this. 

“He said he saw—he said he saw Minnie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you wanted more, you got more, but with more story comes more angst and since this is now officially a multi-chapter fic, there will be a lot of angst :)
> 
> apologizes for any baseball inaccuracies, I did play a sport in high school but it wasn’t baseball or softball 
> 
> tumblr is saturdaybandit if you wanna talk about violentine (or guess what sport I played)


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting by the river was supposed to be peaceful, but Violet couldn’t stop her thoughts from racing. If anything, the river was the agitator here, as all Violet could think about were the times spent with her “friends” here. Everyone was mad at her, and in a normal situation, Violet would have privately made amends with everyone or just ignored it. But this was not normal. Nothing about this was normal.

The night of the baseball game was a long one, so long it was hard to believe it was only last night, and it started when Tenn ran off. Louis and the others found him after about an hour, but that might have been the least stressful thing to happen that night, because they found him with Minnie, who was drenched in blood that wasn’t hers. So they all made a trip down to the police station and it was there that the night seemed to last forever. Police reports. Question after question, badge after badge, form after form. It was all so frighteningly real that everyone was quiet as they sat and waited to be allowed to go home. Even Louis kept his mouth shut, looking somber, except for when he proposed everyone spend the night at his place since he had the room and “Everyone needs to de-stress. Everyone.” Tenn looked comforted at the prospect and while Violet knew she would have to pull some strings, she would have done it.

 

Until Marlon came limping through those same fucking police station doors. He wasn’t covered in blood like Minnie was, but he was pale and his eyes—god, his eyes. Violet saw a lot of kids at Ericson who went through a lot of shit, but never had she seen someone look so thoroughly...broken, before. Marlon had only been gone a week, and he had a habit of just vanishing sometimes. No one had been concerned. Maybe they should have been. The only sign of life in his eyes was how they lit up, briefly, when he saw Louis. 

“Lou, I—shit, man. I fucked up. I fucked it all up. I didn’t mean to—“

By the time he finished his sentence, he was swarmed by police officers and whisked away as he continued to call for Louis and beg for forgiveness. Visibly shaken, Louis repeated his suggestion that they all go to his house (his mansion, really) and made driving arrangements. Until Violet said what they were all thinking.

“What if Marlon has something to do with it?”

“With what?” Louis asked, defensive. Violet knew from then that this was going to be a much bigger issue than anticipated. 

“With Minnie.”

“We don’t even know what happened yet!” Louis said. “How are you just going to accuse him of something he hasn’t done?”

“He was the last person besides Brody to see the twins alive, and he shows up the same day Minnie does? That’s not a coincidence, Louis.” 

“It could be!” Louis yelled, getting the attention of a few more officers. “How can you just say that? We don’t know what either of them have been through!”

“I didn’t even accuse him of anything yet! All I’m saying is—“

“Yet?” Louis repeated. “Yet? He’s your fucking friend, Violet. For all we know, Minnie could have been the one to—“

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Violet interjected. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Guys, stop.” Tenn pleaded. “Please.”

“You know what?” Violet said. “I think I’ll find my own way home. Have fun at your sleepover.”

“It’s late.” Ruby said. 

“I’ll be fine.” Violet said, and walked out.

 

That was all less than 12 hours ago. Violet made it home and snuck past her father who was passed out drunk on the couch, laid awake in her bed for two hours before she knew sleep wasn’t coming, and was out the door again. She wandered aimlessly for a few hours, trying to clear her head. She wished that she had a hobby or a sport or something to take her mind off of things. Her phone vibrated with a text, and she was honestly surprised the battery wasn’t dead. 

Just let us know you’re alive, Violet. Louis texted her. If not for me, do it for Tenn. He’s worried sick.

Tell Tenn I’m fine. She wrote back, and then turned off her phone and went back to staring at the river. Maybe it was a little insensitive to accuse Marlon of something the second she saw him, but there was just too much happening all at once for none of it to be connected. He was the one who brought them to that stupid party, after all. The story he told was that the twins had to get a ride home from someone else because he was too drunk to drive. They were all mourning at the time (plus, getting drunk and forgetting your responsibilities was exactly the kind of thing Marlon would do) and no one questioned it at the time. 

Poor Minnie. Poor Sophie. No one wanted to assume the worst, but things weren’t looking so hot. And Tenn. Violet wondered how he was handling this, and decided to go talk to him later when everyone had cooled down.

She tensed when she heard footsteps near her. It was still early, and it was a Saturday on top of that. The river should have been empty. She hoped it wasn’t a cop.

“Hey Clem, over here!” A young boy’s voice called, and Violet was even more puzzled as she turned around

“I told you not to run so far ahead, AJ.” Clem’s voice spoke as she came into view. This was the first time Violet had seen her outside of school. Clementine was was dressed for a run, and even slightly sweaty and out of breath she made Violet’s heart skip a beat.

“Sorry.” The kid, AJ, said. “But I found her.”

Violet looked at Clementine, hoping for some kind of clarification.

“Louis wanted us to look for you.” Clem said. 

Violet raised an eyebrow, not believing it for a second. Louis wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, but that didn’t mean he forgave that easily.  
Especially if it involved Marlon.

“Okay.” Clem said. “It was technically one of the others. Tennessee, I think his name is? He told Louis he was worried about you, and I was worried too. Plus, me and the goofball come here every Saturday.”

“You were worried?” Violet asked. 

“Yeah, I was.” Clementine said. “It’s not like I think you can’t handle yourself, but I heard things got kinda crazy last night, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just not used to people, uh, caring.” Violet admitted, rubbing her arm nervously. “But I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten?” Clementine asked. “Or slept?”

“Well, no, but—“

“Lee always cooks a big breakfast on Saturdays.” AJ interjected. “You should come! So he can finally meet you!”

“Finally?” Violet asked. “What do you mean, finally?” 

“AJ—“ Clem tried, but it was too late. 

“Clem talks about you all the time.” AJ said, and Violet wasn’t sure who blushed more, her or Clem. “Especially right after baseball.”

“That’s enough, AJ.” Clementine said, more flustered than Violet had ever seen. “I think she gets it.”

“Does that mean you’re going to come?” AJ asked her. “Please?”

“Sure thing, AJ. I am kind of hungry, after all.” Violet agreed, and AJ grinned, and then started to tug on Clem’s sleeve. “Come on. I want to show her my new Disco Broccoli toy.”

“We’re right behind you, goofball.” Clem said, and they started the walk to Clem’s house. The silence was a bit awkward, but Violet was more concerned with what AJ said earlier. Clem talked about her “all the time”, and to a man who Violet assumed was her foster parent. It made Violet feel special, in a way. She meant enough to Clementine that she was talking to her parents about her. The thought put a smile on her face before she could stop it, and Clem noticed. 

“What’s got you so happy?” Clem asked. “Have anything to with AJ embarrassing me back there?”

“A bit, yeah. But I’m glad that someone is here with me after all that bullshit last night.” Violet said. “And I’m glad it’s you.”

Clementine smiled. “What did happen last night, if you want to tell me?” She asked, like Violet could say no to a face like that. 

So Violet retold the story, and when she was finished, Clem turned to look at her. 

“Holy shit.” Clementine said. “I mean, this is some serious shit.”

“Swear!” AJ called. 

“Sorry, kiddo.” Clementine said. “But really, Violet. So Marlon took them to a party and they went missing, and he shows up the day one of the twins returns? That can’t be a coincidence.”

Violet wanted to cry with relief. Someone else understood that it was possible Marlon wasn’t blameless here. 

“That’s what I said.” Violet said. “And that’s when everyone got mad, so I left. That was what, midnight? Maybe 1AM? Got home at 1:30, left again at 3:30 and I’ve been at the river since.”

“Violet. It’s almost 9. You’ve been outside for nearly six hours?” Clementine asked. Violet shrugged. 

“Sometimes I don’t want to go home, and there’s no place to go. I’ve been outside for much longer before.” She said, but could feel Clementine staring at her. She didn’t want to turn around and see the same pity on her face that everyone else always had, so she crossed her arms and kept her eyes forward.

“Violet.” Clem said again, much softer, and Violet felt her resolve melting away. “Is everything okay? I don’t just mean with Marlon and everything. I mean at home.”

Violet sighed. “There’s a lot to tell. I don’t want to waste your time—“ She said, and then felt her brain short-circuit as Clementine reached down to grab her hand. 

“I know I can be a bit...much sometimes, with the baseball thing and all, but you can talk to me, Violet. I mean it.”

Violet’s mouth went dry as she turned to face Clem, although she couldn’t stop herself from sneaking a glance at their intertwined hands first.

“Okay. Yeah.” Violet breathed. “We can talk later.”

“Come on!” AJ said. “Lee’s gonna eat all the pancakes if we don’t hurry up!”

Clem laughed. “Alright, AJ.”

 

When Violet entered the house (the Everett Household, she was later informed) the scene before her was so domestic it was foreign. The man AJ and Clem talked about, Lee, stood over a stove and in front of him was a large table absolutely covered in various breakfast foods. She noticed four places were set, but even with an extra person it was still a lot of food. Lee must have noticed her staring, because he chuckled.

“I know it looks like a lot.” He said. “But I’ve got to feed a growing boy, an athlete, myself, and a fiancee. And she probably eats more than the three of us. I’m Lee. You must be Violet, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things?” Violet asked.

“Mostly good things.” Lee said, and Violet looked at Clementine. 

“Mostly?”

“No one’s perfect.” Clementine said, a twinkle in her eye. “We can talk about it later.” 

“Agreed.” said Lee. “I can see AJ eyeing up the pancakes already, and nothing stops that boy when he’s hungry.”

Violet stayed quiet throughout most of the meal, partly because she was stuffing her face for most of it (it turned out walking for hours made you hungry) and partly because she didn’t have anything to say. Seeing a functional, happy family made her heart ache in a way she didn’t think was possible. She knew her own family would never be like this. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw her father so much as look at the stove, let alone make a meal. Still, this was nice. Seeing the side of Clementine that wasn’t the cocky baseball player or the flirty jock (although Violet didn’t mind those sides) was nice. 

After breakfast, she offered to help wash the dishes but Lee declined. 

“You’re a guest, there’s no need for that,” he said, in that incredibly deep voice of his. “Besides, I need to talk to Clem.”

“I can show you my Disco Broccoli toys!” AJ said immediately, and grabbed her arm as he guided her to his room. “This is my room!” He said, proudly. “And this is my favorite toy. Clem got it for me.”

“You two sure are close, huh?” Violet asked. AJ nodded with such force it made Violet wince.

“I’ve known Clem my whole life.” he said. 

“And Lee?”

“Lee is nice. He adopted us when I was 3.” He explained, slowly sounding out adopted. Violet figured he learned the word not to long ago. “I’m 5 now.”

“You started school yet?” Violet asked, unsure of how to make conversation with a child. AJ didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah.” AJ said, his arms crossing. Violet got the idea that it wasn’t his favorite thing. She didn’t blame him. “I don’t like it. But Clem says I need to go and learn. Do you want to see my other toys?”

“Sure.” Violet said. AJ was better company that a lot of the kids at Ericson. Hell, right now he was better company than Louis. She got the feeling Tenn would have liked him—shit. Her phone was still off, and she didn’t have a charger on her. Maybe Clem or Lee had one. 

“I’ll be right back, AJ.” She said, heading off to the kitchen. Honestly, for as much food as there was Violet didn’t remember seeing that many dishes so there was a possibility they were already done. 

“Hey, do either of you have a phone charger? I have a feeling Louis has been blowing my phone up all day.” Violet asked as she entered the kitchen, not supposed to see Clem and Lee at the table instead of at the sink. 

“Louis.” Lee said. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“He’s very loud.” Violet said. “If you’ve ever been within fifty feet of Ericson you’ve heard him talk before.”

Lee laughed. “Maybe I heard him at the game last night.”

“You were there?” Violet asked, remembering Clem winking at her and how there was no way anyone with eyes hadn’t seen that. Clem had the decency to blush, as Violet was sure she was thinking the same thing. Lee didn’t seem to notice.

“I was. Haven’t missed a game in about two years, and I intend to keep it that way. Let me go see about getting you that charger.”

“He’s cool.” Violet said, sliding into one of the empty chairs. “What does he do?”

“History teacher.” Clem said. She looked nervous, fiddling around with a bracelet on her wrist.

“He’s better than any of the ones we have at Ericson.” Violet said, and that earned her a snort of laughter from Clementine. 

“I know, but that last thing I need is Lee being directly responsible for one of my grades. He thinks I do a lot more homework than I actually do.” Clem said. 

“I want to say I’m surprised, but you are a jock, so.” Violet deadpanned, and Clementine playfully swatted her arm.

“Hey, it’s still pretty early, and you need to charge your phone, right?” Clem asked suddenly.

“Yeah, why?”

“You wanna watch a movie? Lee basically built this home theater in the basement a few months ago, and if me and AJ didn’t have school, we’d probably be in there right now. He’s very proud of it. It’s like the one thing he’s built without injuring himself.”

“Clem.” Violet said, stopping her from rambling. “I would love to watch a movie with you.”

“Oh, okay. Cool!” Clem said. “I’ll go set everything up. I’m sure Lee has found you a charger. Just come down when you’re ready.” She took off toward the basement at an almost alarming speed, (Violet hadn’t seen her run that fast during the game yesterday) just as Lee came back, a charger in hand. 

“Violet, will this work with your phone? I’m old, I don’t know much about technology anymore, much to the exasperation of my children.”

“Oh, this should be fine, Mr.Everett.” Violet said, unable to not sound awkward. She tended not to treat authority figures with respect, least of all the scumbags at Ericson and was not sure how to proceed. 

“Lee is fine. You’re not one of my students. I would like to talk to you about something, though. Clementine seems very fond of you.”

“Is this where you give me the “don’t hurt her” talk and then threaten me with some sort of bodily harm?” Violet tried a joke to diffuse the seriousness of the situation. Lee cracked a smile, but that was it. 

“No. I trust Clem completely to take care of herself. But you should know when she cares about other people, she cares one hundred percent. It’s something that a lot of people in her life have taken advantage of, and I’m asking you not to be one of those people. I’ve seen her closed off from misplacing that kind of concern in the wrong people, and it’s not something I ever want to see again. You get what I’m saying?” He asked, and Violet nodded. “Enjoy the home theater. And keep the door open. Don’t think I didn’t see that wink!”

Flushed at the reminder, Violet ducked into the basement. She was greeted by the smell of popcorn, and looked to see that there was an honest to god popcorn machine in the corner that looked like it had been plucked from the ‘50s. 

“I know, right? It’s so cheesy. Another thing Lee insisted on.”

“I think it’s cute.” Violet said. “I don’t think my dad would do something like this even if he was sober.” To her surprise, the home theater looked good. Professional, even. The only thing that she could see that made it not professional was that instead of individual seats, there was one large couch that took up most of the room. Violet wondered where in the hell anyone found a couch that big, but she wasn’t complaining.

“Your dad sounds like he sucks.” 

“He’s pretty awful.” Violet agreed, sitting down next to Clementine. “What are we watching?”

“Well, it occurred to me that even with as much as I know about you, I don’t know what your favorite movies are. So, I went with a classic.”

“Clementine I swear to god.”

“What’s wrong with The Lion King?”

“Everything.” Violet said, but she was unable to keep a straight face. “For one, it’s a cheesy Disney movie—“

“The Lion King is one of the best movies Disney has ever made.” Clementine said.

“Your mind is clouded by nostalgia. It’s an average movie at best.” Violet argued. 

“I’m telling AJ you said that. It’s a shame, he was really starting to like you, too.” Clementine said. 

“Enough to tell me that you talk about me all the time.” Violet said.

“Alright, that’s not fair.” Clem said

“So you didn’t talk about me a lot?” Violet asked, knowing the answer. 

“I plead the Fifth. Also, you were learning baseball terms just for me, so we’re even.”

“It’s not really pleading the Fifth if you then admit to it, Clem.” Violet said. 

“I see being friends with Louis does have its side effects.” Was Clementine’s response. “Now, let me re-introduce you to the wonderful world of Disney films.”

 

Violet may have fallen asleep like fifteen minutes into the movie. Maybe. (Definitely). She woke up at the end of the movie, blinking sleepily as she tried to remember where she was. 

“Normally,” Clem said. “I would wake someone up when a masterpiece such as this was on. But you had a long night. I think you needed to sleep.”

Violet realized how close she and Clem were, and then came to the conclusion that her place of choice for her nap (and where her head was still currently resting) was Clem’s shoulder. Mortified, she lifted her head up and hoped silently that she didn’t drool. Clem laughed. 

“It’s okay, Violet. I didn’t mind you being there. I have had you in my arms before, remember? When you were being clumsier than Lee—“

“That was the ladder’s fault, not mine. If you really want to go up the chain of blame, it’s Ericsson’s fault for giving us equipment older than the school itself.” Violet said. 

“I’ll be sure to take up the issue with them at the next game.” Clementine said. “Your phone is charging over there, by the way. It was buzzing a lot during the movie, but I didn’t check it. I have a gut feeling it’s Louis.”

“Yeah, I do too.” Violet said, scrolling through her messages to confirm that 95% of them were from Louis. There was one from Ruby, and another from Aasim that read suspiciously like a Louis text, and the rest were all Louis. She glanced at the last few. 

clem says you’re at her place. is this a prank, bro???

I don’t know if either of you made a move but you haven’t responded so i’m inclined to think you’re actually at her house 

yeah she just texted me that you’re watching a movie. let me know when you’re done, i’ll swing by and we can go for a ride

Movie’s done. Violet sent. Almost instantly, Louis sent a text right back.

i’ll be right there. we gotta talk about marlon. and fight that burning desire to apologize, because they’re saying he confessed to something. 

Confessed to what?

no idea. he wasn’t particularly coherent. either way, we need to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didn’t mean for back to back chapters to end on “cliffhangers” I swear but at one point I looked up and this was 3k words already 
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: saturdaybandit


	4. Chapter 4

Violet had to admit to herself that she didn’t want to leave Clem’s house. Partly because she didn’t want to face all the serious shit that awaited her once she stepped inside Louis’ car, but it was mostly due to how...content she felt here. She had a full stomach and a relatively clear head, but she also felt this sense of belonging that she didn’t feel at home. Then she reminded herself that she didn’t have much of a home at all. Still, she didn’t want to leave, especially not after Clem and AJ watched from the door as she prepared to leave.

“Bye Violet!” AJ said, running over to wrap her in a hug. Once Violet got over the initial shock of a child hugging her (goddamn did this kid have a strong grip) she returned the hug, smiling. “You should come over again!”

“I’ll try, kiddo.” She said, knowing she actually would. Content with this answer, AJ nodded and ran back to his room, presumably to go play with his toys. She looked up to find Clem smiling at her. 

“He likes you.” Clem said. “I’m surprised, but in a good way. He’s usually got issues opening up.”

“Me and him both.” Violet said. “He seems like a good kid.”

“He is, for the most part.” Clementine said. “By the way, I wanted to talk to you.”

“About?”

Clem sighed, the smile fading. “I know we didn’t get to talk much about you or your home life, but I do want you to know that you can always come here. Anything is better than you wandering outside in the middle of the night.”

“I—“ Violet started, but her voice cracked, exposing all the emotion she was feeling at the moment. It was like Clementine read her mind, knew exactly what she wanted to hear and how to make her believe it. How did this feel like more of a home than the one she’d been living in for years? She averted her eyes, worried that tears would start leaking out of them soon. “Thank you, Clementine. That means a lot.”

“I mean it, too.” Clem said, moving forward to grab both of Violet’s hands. “I’ve heard my fair share of empty promises, Violet. This isn’t one of them. I want you to feel safe here. And I want you to feel safe with me. I know I’ve bit a bit forward these last few days—“

“Clem, it’s okay.” Violet remembered that Clem said something similar earlier, and wondered where on earth Clem got the idea that she was being “too much”. “If something you did bothered me, I would have told you.”

At her words, a smile came back onto Clem’s lips, and Violet made the very dangerous decision of deciding to glance down at them. Her gaze lingered just a bit too long before she forced her eyes back up, but guessing from that telltale twinkle that flashed in Clem’s eyes, she hadn’t been quick enough.

“Violet, I—“ Whatever Clementine was going to say was interrupted by the obnoxious honking of a horn.

“Louis.” Violet sighed. “Managing to ruin the moment when he’s not even in the room.”

Clementine laughed, but didn’t let go of her hand. “It’s okay. You have a lot going on right now. We can talk later.”

“Seems like we have a lot to talk about.” Violet mumbled.

“There’s no rush, Violet.” Clem said. “I don’t want to say we have all the time in the world or anything, but it’s okay. I don’t want to rush...this.”

Clem’s hesitation made Violet pause and think herself. What was this? Better question, what could it become?

She followed as Violet stepped outside, and Violet was confused as to why until she saw Clem wave. Louis enthusiastically honked the horn of his too expensive car (again) in response. Violet turned to say an awkward goodbye, but before she could, Clementine turned around and placed a kiss on her cheek. Violet felt like her entire face was on fire, and doubly so for the spot where Clem’s lips had touched her skin.

“I’ll see you at school.” Clem said. “Be careful out there, Violet.”

“Anything for you.” Violet said, because fuck subtlety. She was trying to keep up with Clem here, but this wasn’t exactly her area of expertise. It didn’t matter anyway. Her voice came out as more of a squeak, effectively ruining any chance Violet had at seeming smooth. Clem smiled at her, and this time Violet managed to meet her eyes and hold her gaze. She saw the little flecks of gold and remembered the first day they’d met, and how long ago it seemed, how Clementine already seemed to care about her. She wondered if—

Louis honked his horn again, this time holding it for so long that one of the neighbors came out to see what was going on. Hoping to avoid embarrassing Clem, Violet quickly made her way to the car. Louis kept his hand on the horn the entire way, until she made her way to the passenger seat. After she sat, he turned and looked at her for a long second without saying anything, and Violet could not read his expression which troubled her. Louis was pretty much an open book, especially to her. If he wasn’t showing what he felt, it meant either he didn’t know himself, or that he was actively trying to hide it. Neither options were that good. 

“I’m taking it your morning went well?” He said. “I saw the kiss.”

“It was on the cheek.” Violet said. 

“Still a kiss.” He said, breaking out into a grin. “Did you make the move? Did she? I’m guessing it was her, right?”

“Louis, please shut up.” Violet said, although she was happy to see him smiling even if it was at her expense. 

“That means it was her.” Louis continued. “So. Details. Was it as romantic as you dreamed? Did you two slow dance? You didn’t slow dance, did you? Good. I wanna play piano for your first dance. That way, you’ll have to talk about me every time someone asks about you and Clem.”

“We’re not—we said we wanted to take things slow.” Violet said. “And I don’t even know what “things” means.”

“It means,” Louis said. “That you two have admitted there’s something there, at least. Which is a good step. You’re my best friend, Violet, but if I had to watch you pine the rest of the school year I would lose my mind. Although trying to watch you scramble for excuses for why you were at the games would have been hilarious.”

“I don’t pine.” Violet lied, knowing damn well Louis knew that was a lie.

“Whatever you say. If we didn’t have serious shit going on, I wouldn’t let you off so easy.” Louis said, finally driving off. “As it is, we have a lot of serious shit going on. Like, an excessive amount of serious shit.”

“You said Marlon confessed to something, right?” Violet said. 

“Well, yes. But don’t go around telling everyone that. Technically, no one is supposed to know that but his lawyer.”

“So how did you…” Violet stopped as she remembered who she was talking to and how much money this car was worth. Louis seemed to read her mind, as he glanced at her and nodded in acknowledgement. 

“Let’s just say one of those officers can now afford a really nice pair of shoes.” Louis said. “But that’s not important. Do you remember what Marlon told us when Minnie and Sophie first went missing?”

Violet hated how she struggled to remember. How could something so important a few months ago have faded from memory already? “Something about how he was too drunk to drive them, so they got a ride?”

Louis sighed. “Turns out, that’s not exactly true. He’s saying...shit, man. He’s saying he might have let them go with someone else on purpose, that he was involved with some “bad people”, and that was his best bet at keeping them safe. I wish I knew what the fuck he meant. I wish—I wish he would have told me. Why didn’t he tell me, Violet? If it was money, maybe I could have helped him out or something. What the fuck was so bad that he’d—“

“Let them go with a stranger?” Violet finished. She sympathized with Louis, she really did, but at this point she was trying to contain her rage. “That’s what it sounds like he did. Like he fucking let them go home with someone he knew was a stranger to cover his own ass.”

The first day, when Minnie and Sophie didn’t show up, she was just as angry. But she knew how one mistake could rapidly spiral into something no one could have ever seen coming, and she naively assumed such was the case for Marlon. She hadn’t “forgiven” him in the way that the others had, but she understood to an extent. It was in the nature of people to fuck up. Marlon just happened to fuck up to an to an unprecedented degree.

Louis sighed again. “I know. I know. We all blindly trusted him, and now it seems like he didn’t trust any of us. Like he didn’t trust me.” His voice wavered and Violet now knew what he was feeling, what he was trying to hide earlier. “Can’t blame him, can I? I’m the funny guy, the guy who doesn’t take anything seriously. Why would he trust me?”

“Louis. You’re his best friend. I’m sure there’s a reason he didn’t tell you. It might mean this is more dangerous than we know.” Violet wasn’t good at comforting people and she knew Louis knew that, but she still had to try. “The Marlon I knew was an asshole, but this is something else entirely.”

“Yeah.” Louis said. “Maybe that’s it. Hey, listen, Vi—“

“What is it, Louis. You only use that tone when you want something.”

“Maybe I’m not asking for anything this time and I just want to keep you on your toes.” Louis said. “Fine. There’s no easy way to ask this. Marlon, uh, also mentioned a woman named Lilly.”

Violet stared. “Am I supposed to know who that is, or…?”

Louis shook his head. “She’s the athletic director at Ericson. He said something about getting her money, and to look at the baseball field as an example. I’m sure Marlon name dropping her won't make it into the official case.”

Violet sort of remembered her, but she also remembered that Marlon hadn’t played a sport at all this year because of an injury (which she only knew because he didn’t shut up about it). How could the athletic director be involved?

“Why not?”

“Her dad was the chief of police. Had his fair share of controversy there, too.” He said, not meeting her eyes.

“Louis,” Violet said slowly, because he knew a lot more information about this than he had yesterday. “Why did you bring her up?”

“Well, she’s connected to Marlon somehow, right, and I figure since you know Clementine now, you could ask her to talk to her?”

“Louis—“

“We have to find out what happened.” Louis protested. “Come on, Vi.”

“Find out what happened? Louis, this isn’t a fucking Nancy Drew novel!”

“How much do you really think the police can find out if they pretend Lilly has nothing to do with it?” Louis countered. “We have to. Otherwise, who knows what will happen to Marlon? And don’t you want to know what happened to Minnie and Sophie? And why?”

“Yeah, but not by playing detective. You need to calm down and breathe, Louis. It’s been a tough few days for all of us.” Violet figured that as well-intentioned as Louis was, he had no idea how to handle such a large responsibility, and that he was throwing shit at the wall and waiting to see what stuck.

“But—“ Louis said, but shut his mouth just as quickly as he had opened it. “Okay, Violet.”

Violet was instantly suspicious, as it was unlike Louis to stop talking (like, ever). She looked at him, but he kept his eyes on the road and remained tight-lipped the rest of the way, at one point reaching to turn on the radio.  
It just made things more awkward. It occurred to her that she didn’t ask where they were going, but soon enough Louis’ lavish place of residence pulled into view.

She realized why he’d shut up so quickly in the car as she walked through the door. It looked like something straight out of a movie. Some time during the sleepover she’d missed, Louis and everyone else had taken it upon themselves to set up a whiteboard that was almost covered in cut out pictures, newspaper articles, and with dates and other assorted numbers scrawled at the bottom. Even now, Aasim, Ruby and Omar remained, Aasim frowning as he read something. 

“There’s something not adding up, Violet. And it’s not like we can rely on the adults for anything.” Louis said. “If you don’t wanna do it for Marlon, do it for Minnie and Sophie. Do it for Tenn.”

Violet sometimes hated it when Louis made valid points. She had no desire to play the sleuth for Marlon’s sake, but Tenn deserved a real answer for what happened to his sisters. They all did. And, well, after a morning surrounded by loving and caring people, Violet was feeling a bit more confident and a lot more willing to listen and help out herself. 

“Fine.” Violet said, ignoring Louis when he cheered. “For Tenn.”

She knew it was just as much for her as it was for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be honest I’m not thrilled with this chapter ): 
> 
> I feel like it’s too dialogue heavy but I have finals coming up so this was coming out now or never 
> 
> tumblr is saturdaybandit if you want to cry about school with me


End file.
